Many shopping experiences involve selecting and purchasing only a few items. In many instances, customers simply carry items in their hands or arms until they arrive at a check-out counter. However, many consumers quickly find that they begin to select more items for purchase or select items bigger than they can readily carry. In those instances, they return to the entrance of the store to get a shopping cart or a handbasket.
Most stores offer a handbasket for shopping when only a few items are desired. When available, many customers will more willingly use a handbasket than a shopping cart for buying a small number of items. However, conventional handbaskets have their own inconveniences. For example, many conventional handbaskets include a pair of wire handles that require the use of two hands to gather together before the handbasket is transferred over to a single hand for carrying. Moreover, completing this maneuver usually requires the customer to awkwardly stoop over in the store as they attempt to pick up the handbasket. In addition, the wire handles often rest directly against an upper edge of the handbasket, making it even more difficult to grasp the wire handles with their fingers. Finally, the wire handles in conventional handbaskets typically are oriented in a manner forcing a customer to rotate their hand and forearm outwardly in order to carry the handbasket at their side.
Today's consumer is looking for convenience and ease wherever they can find it, and conventional handbaskets fall well short.